July 20

Chris had surgery today.

He has been struggling with a hernia for several months now. It first started with some discomfort and a bulge that gurgled. He saw his primary care physician, who confirmed a hernia and referred him to a surgeon. He saw the surgeon, who told him it wasn't a hernia, and he should check back in 6 months or if it got worse. In mid-June it started getting worse, and we debated whether he should go back to the same surgeon or to someone else. Then our insurance provider changed and the initial doctor was no longer covered. Problem solved. He saw a new doctor who confirmed that it was a hernia and offered to operate as soon as the next week. But hernia surgery requires quite a bit of recovery time, and after looking at our calendar and all the things we had going on, we decided to wait until mid-August. I bought him a hernia support belt, which helped a lot. 

Until it didn't. 

Last week the pain grew more intense, and Chris realized he couldn't wait until mid-August, so he scheduled his surgery for today. Not ideal, but necessary. My mom offered to stay with the kids all day so I could be at the hospital with Chris during the surgery.

First, though, we stopped at the library to get a stack of movies for Chris to watch as he convalesced.

I also got some waiting room reading material for myself. And the kids picked a few things. They are great library company.

Pre-surgery selfie.

Prepped and ready to go!

The surgery went really well, and just a few hours later we were heading home. 

Driving home!

Except that five minutes later, I had to pull over on the side of the highway because Chris felt faint and nauseated. We made it home, but it was a good reminder that this is a major surgery, and he has some serious recovering to do.